Envy of a Took
by CloudyRose06
Summary: Pippin shares his happenings, as well as his envy for a certain elf with improbable archery skills.


**ENVY OF A TOOK**

There I am, standing in the middle of a forest looking so familiar to Fangorn. All the leaves and trees full of life as they surround me. The forest still full of lurking spiders even long after Sauron perished three years ago.

This is Mirkwood, the woodland home of Legolas and ruling it is his father, Thranduil.

Merry and I decided to take a trek there to visit Legolas, having been long bored of life in the Shire and unable to bear anymore snickering from what we would like to call 'non-adventuers'. It's not that we no longer care for the Shire. The Shire has always been our home. But they don't understand what Merry and I went through, and they most likely never will. They won't know what it's like to be prisoners of war, being captured by orcs and taken to their fort because their lord wants some evil trinket. They won't know what it's like to be separated from a friend they've known their whole lives only to end up serving seperate armies, or to have another bear such an impossible task. Those non-adventurers were lucky neither Mordor or Isengard haven't invaded the Shire.

Okay, so Merry and I had been adventurous from the beginning. It's in our blood after all. He's a Brandybuck and I'm a Took. Yes, Took meaning I'm related to the Great Bullroarer. Well, _closely_ related anyway. Bullroarer was amongst the most famous of us Hobbits, being up to 4' 5" which enabled him to ride a full-bred horse. Quite the tallest of us all actually. I just didn't understand how he did it, and I kinda still don't. Bandobras Took... 4' 5", and I'm like what? Only 3' 9"? Quite an unusual height but I could only consume so much Ent Draft. Imagine how easier it would be if I did. I would be better able to ride into battle and maybe shoot some arrows... which goes back to Legolas.

Ah, Legolas. The sole Elf in the Fellowship. The fairest of us all. One of the lucky ones. How have I envied him. I didn't tell anyone this, not even Merry, but I have always envied Legolas. I may still envy him now. If I would consume like 5 or 6 jars of Ent Draft, I would definitely rival him. Of course, I'm the least brightest out of the four Hobbits within the Company but I've been spending more time shooting arrows than the others, though I didn't tell anyone this either. Although us Hobbits have quite a knack for archery as well as the art of stooping for a stone. Legolas? Let me tell you something about that Elf. His aiming skills are improbable even for normal archery standards. He once shot two arrows simultaneously at a cave troll and heard from Gimli that he slid down a staircase with a shield, still shooting arrows along the way. Now, I'm a Hobbit and I know I would never compare to the ever graceful Elf that is Legolas but I still can't help but feel a little jealousy towards him even if the Elf himself was humble about it. He was indeed the lucky one. He even managed to make friends with Gimli.

Gimli might be in Mirkwood right now, but then again maybe not. I don't know for sure if the Elves there have really gotten over their hatred for the Dwarves even if Legolas and Gimli have gotten over it themselves. I guess it's up to me and Merry to find out, isn't it?

It's kinda funny how the bond between myself and Merry is quite different from the bond between an Elf and a Dwarf. While Merry and I were both raised in the Shire, Legolas and Gimli were raised in vastly different kingdoms. Legolas, being and Elf, has spent most of his time among the trees. Gimli, however, prefers the shining underground caves. But three years had passed and now Legolas and Gimli had traveled all over Middle-earth, seeing the wonders of the land for what it is as a whole, good and bad. Most of all, Gimli is still all meat-and-potatoes head-on axeman while Legolas provides unnatural support with his flawless aim with arrows. While Legolas is an Elvenprince, I'm the mere Fool of a Took who has gone far from it since the war.

Throughout the Quest, I was the most morbidly curious out of everyone else in the company, drawn to things that would immediately catch my interest. Gandalf would often berate me for that, which had made me his least favorite out of all Hobbits. Probably so much I sometimes wanted to grab his staff and knock his head with it, if given enough strength to do so. It wasn't until my time in service of Gondor that the Wizard finally started to respect both my strengths and weaknesses. Granted, I was curious almost to a fault, but still. Perhaps this was why I was able to connect with Faramir. We were both kindred in spirit, as Faramir was Denethor's least favorite of the sons. Dunno if Legolas had even suffered being the unfavorite, but then again I doubt he would tell me or anyone else if he did. I bet he won't even tell Gimli.

So since the war has passed, my ambition now is to become as skilled in archery as Legolas, if not more. I'm a Hobbit so that kind of feat should come naturally for me. I might have to tell Merry sooner or later, but for now I'm pretty content. When any sort of threat does enter the Shire, this time I'll be ready.


End file.
